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      04-26-2024, 10:56 AM   #8
crabman
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Drives: 2024 X5M
Join Date: Dec 2011
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This applies to the US only, but having gone there, I can tell you a little bit about warranty denial in the automotive space.

To start with there are only a few reasons a warranty can be voided in total: Salvage title, ODO tampering, altered so greatly as to change the cars intended purpose from one thing to another, a few others I can't remember. Most of them will not apply to a typical owner on a forum who made some kind of modification.

You can be denied on a case by case basis for a specific item if they believe that an aftermarket installation caused the failure. I'll get back to "they believe" later. For now, that means just what it says, they are not responsible to warranty a failure caused by something that they did not sell you.

Where that gets sticky is power adders. If you buy a car putting out 350 hp from the factory and add parts that increase the power to 400, you've now altered the car from what they sold you, and they are not responsible for any problems that may arise. This one will stick and can lead to a voided powertrain warranty.

Note that the rest of the warranty will remain intact, your power mirror for example, will get fixed. This is part of a huge legislation called the MM act, that the warranty remains on components not impacted by the alteration made by a customer.

So you'll often read that the dealership has to prove something before warranty can be denied. Completely untrue. This is where the "they believe" comes into play. Possession is 9/10s of the law and you are not in possession of your warranty coverage. Nor is the dealership, they can make some repairs on their own as an authorized agent of the manufacturer, but they do not have possession of your warranty coverage. That honor goes to the manufacturer, you have to go to them through their authorized agents (usually a dealership) to get warranty coverage.

What this means is that in order to deny you coverage, they need only say the words, and it is done. You can jump up and down, scream, tell anybody that will listen about the MM act, it does nothing. You've been denied coverage, and you're off the road or out of pocket until such time as you follow a process that will require you to prove that your modifications did not cause the failure. While I hate to defend dealerships and their model in the case of warranty denial it often comes not from them, but rather a corporate rep who came in to examine the car before the repair could be authorized.

Now you're going to pursue a legal action. In practice, the reality is exactly the opposite of what you might think. They show up with graphs, charts, engineering extracts, and present it. This is a civil action and their presentation has the effect of being the truth until you show that it is not. That's outside any points of law, like them not being responsible to warrant something they did not sell. As I said, things can get ugly with power adders because you've got a drivetrain subjected to power levels not existing on the car sold to you.

One last fallacy: That you will get costs if you win. The MM act provides that you can ask for costs, this wasn't always the case in all states before it was enacted. What it doesn't do is guarantee that you will get them. I won, asked for costs, didn't get them.

Keep in mind I'm not an attorney, and going by memory of something I did 2 decades ago. There are variances on a state by state basis as they have individual warranty legislation that exists beyond that codified in the MM act, which is in effect nation wide.

If I were in the UK and wondering what the deal is I'd consult an attorney. This can normally be done on the (relative) cheap in the US, and I would think some similar consultation could be done overseas. I love car forums and there are many smart and helpful people on them. But they're a poor choice for legal advice.
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